PRESS RELEASES

St. Elizabeth’s Toastmasters International Club® Achieves Select Distinguished Status in First Year

Belleville, IL – St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is pleased to announce their Toastmasters International Club has achieved Select Distinguished status by completing 7 of 10 annual goals set by Toastmasters International, a nonprofit organization, focusing on communication and leadership development.

Required goals met by St. Elizabeth’s club include: meeting the minimum membership requirement, the ability to recruit new members, completion of Competent Communicator and Competent Leadership Project Manuals by members, Club Officer training completion, and submitting timely reports to Toastmasters International.

Members who received recognition for earning the Competent Communicator (CC) Award and Competent Leadership (CL) Award for the first program year include: Joe Kippley (CC), Melissa Sterling (CC), Emily Wilson (CL), and Carol Wylie (CL).

“Select Distinguished status is the second highest status a Toastmasters club can achieve falling between Distinguished and President’s Distinguished status,” noted Tom Gillard, Toastmasters Division C Governor for District 8, which covers eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. “Of all 107 clubs in District 8, 47 reached one of these distinguished levels this past program year. This recognition is especially noteworthy since St. Elizabeth’s Club achieved this status in their first eligible year.”

St. Elizabeth’s Hospital chose to charter a Toastmasters International club as a beneficial colleague development opportunity in 2013, and has since opened the club to the community as part of St. Elizabeth’s mission to serve as a Teaching Hospital for the region.

Meetings occur on the first and third Thursday of each month from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in the Millennium Room of Medical Office Building A, located at 340 W. Lincoln Street, Belleville, IL 62220. Members have the option to attend either meeting time organized by St. Elizabeth’s club, or to attend one of the 13,500 clubs in 116 countries that make up Toastmasters International’s global network of meeting locations.

At each meeting, members have the opportunity to improve leadership and speaking skills by taking turns giving presentations in a relaxed environment, which includes a friendly evaluation from their peers, along with constructive criticism for growth. The membership cost is $36 biannually.

"Toastmasters provides the encouragement and support to improve your communications skills in a collaborative and positive environment,” shared Leslee Martin, President of St. Elizabeth’s Toastmasters Club. “I always look forward to listening to the prepared speeches and impromptu stories our members share.”

Hospital Sisters Health System is a Roman Catholic health care mission founded to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. Sponsored by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, HSHS provides state-of-the-art heath care framed in traditional values taught by St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi. Is it dedicated to serving all people, including the poor and the need, at each of its 13 Local Systems and physician practices in Illinois (Belleville, Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Highland, Litchfield, Springfield and Streator) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Sheboygan and two in Green Bay). For more information about HSHS, visit www.hshs.org.